ADDRESS 

7 ' ' 


TO THE 

• 

IRISH AND THEIR DESCENDANTS 

* . V ‘ ' 

IN THE 


UNITED STATES AND THE BRITISH PROVINCES. 


1/ 

BY HIBERNICUS. 


OCTOBER, 1848. 



COLUMBIA, S. C.: 
PRINTED BY JOHN G. BOWMAN. 




ADDRESS. 


PELLOW-CoUNTRYMEN I 

If ever there was a cause, from the foundation of 
the world to the present time, which needed no apolo¬ 
gy for an individual to assume the liberty of addressing 
his felloyr-countrymen, it is the present crisis of the 
history of our native land and of our forefathers, which 
calls aloud to all portions of the civilized globe, from 
the north to the south pole, and from the farthest ex¬ 
tremity of east longitude to that of the west, wherever 
an Irishman is to he found, where famine has swept 
over the land, more terrible in its ravages than the 
hurricane or the storm, more desolating in its devas¬ 
tations than the swarms of flies, worms and locusts 
which consume the labor and toil of the husbandman, 
and destroy his best hopes and prospects for the time 
being—when thousands of the human race were swept 
off the face of the earth for the want of nourishment 
to sustain life—when the land refused to yield its na¬ 
tural productions, became putrified and corrupted, 
creating a pestilence which crept into all classes of 
society and brought mourning, desolation and woe 
amongst our people, which it will take ages to eradicate 
from their memories, causing townships and villages 
to be totally deserted throughout the length and 
breadth of the land—which has caused her faithful 
sons and daughters to shed tears of sorrow for her un- 
heard of calamities in whatever clime or country their 
lot happened to he cast. 

While the awful scourge was impending, her vene¬ 
rable prelates and brave patriots, who are the natural 
guardians of the country, gave timely notice of it to 
those who assumed the regulation of her affairs, and 
feigned to be her protectors (hut in reality are a por¬ 
tion of* her robbers,) there was no heed taken, nor at- 




4 


tention paid to their warnings. When the famine 
came in all its might and frightful reality, a certain 
sum, to effectually meet the emergency, to put a stop 
to the cold-headed, cold-hearted carnage demanded hy 
Ireland’s devoted philanthropists, not as a boon, but as 
a right, a pitiful sum was doled out reluctantly by the 
hard-hearted monopolizers of the spoils, not only of 
Ireland, but of the other robbed nations of the earth. 
Extermination of the peasantry by the wholesale, oil 
the part of the monster landlords, accompanied the 
reluctance of the magnanimous government, as though 
they anticipated its intentions of destroying the lives of 
the Irish people, and thus showed their loyalty by 
becoming its most sanguinary co-operators in the pale- 
faced massacre. Discontent of the poor peasantry, 
who were goaded on to despair and madness, was the 
result of this combination, and a few of the tyrannical 
landlords became the victims of their vengeance.— 
Remonstrance followed remonstrance in rapid succes¬ 
sion to the government, from the Irish patriots. The 
answer they received was a coercion bill; next came 
a gagging bill; and next to that an alien bill; and to 
crown all the monstrosities of mock-legislation, comes 
a suspension of the habeas corpus act, and castle 
proclamations in rapid succession, suppressing the 
freedom of speech and of the press and of the clubs 
when the friends of humanity met to sympathise with 
one another on the distress of their country, and delib¬ 
erate upon the most effectual plan to alleviate the ex¬ 
cruciating miseries of their fellow-creatures. Those 
tender hearted, brave and magnanimous men, for the 
faithful devotion to the cause of their country, have 
been hunted up by bloodhounds in the forms of men, 
who for the sake of the scrapings they get from the 
fleshpots of England, betray their neighbors, their 
friends, their country, their religion and their God, and 
make themselves the scoff, the scorn and derision of 
all good men. They are obliged to remain forever 
buried in infamy, and which is worse than all for 
them, they sink their poor souls (it is to be feared for- 


over) in the lowest recesses of Pluto’s regions. Far 
better for such characters to have never been born, if 
they could find no other way to feed their belly, than 
to be the pimps of infamy, and that none of the. di¬ 
vine rays of liberty had never shone on them to illumine 
their mental optics, and prevent them from being the 
vilest of the vile, persecutors of their race. It is 
through the means of those poor execrable wretches, 
who drag on a horrible life by subsisting on the price 
of the blood of those who are by nature their fellow- 
men, if they had not forfeited that claim by their infa¬ 
my, that numbers of our countrymen are now in the 
grasp of their relentless persecutors, chained in dun¬ 
geons, ready for the slaughter, and John Bull thirsts 
for more Irish blood to glut his morbid appetite ; for 
that precious beverage upon which the dear little ex¬ 
quisite babies of royalty and the chosen oligarchy and 
aristocracy of his household have been fed since the 
day that Henry the second, one of England’s monarchs 
was invited by Dermot McMorough, King of Leinster, 
to assist him in waging war on one of his neighbors 
for some real or imaginary wrong committed by the 
latter, who, it seems, also wore the glittering robe of 
royalty forsooth ! The history of Ireland, previous to 
that period, is like that of all the other nations of an¬ 
tiquity ; it presents to the view of the reader her first 
settlement, the history of those people who first set¬ 
tled upon her soil, their character, their habits, their 
manners, and their customs, with their laws, their 
morals and their religion, their rise and progress, their 
civil strifes and feudatory wars amongst themselves, 
their advancement in the arts and sciences, and the 
civilization of the times in which they lived, which, 
long before Christianity dawned upon the world, was 
not inferior to any nation in Europe. Her being con¬ 
verted to Christianity in the fifth century ; her being 
invaded like other nations of Europe by a portion of 
those northern barbarians, the Danes, the many fierce 
sanguinary and bloody battles they had with them 
for about two hundred years, until they finally routed 


6 


them at the famous battle of Clomtorf under the 
celebrated King and leader, Brian Borough, on which 
occasion, being left to themselves, they continued a 
free and independant nation until their enviable situa¬ 
tion and position attracted the cupidity of the great 
Goliah of Europe, proud, haughty and domineering 
England. She it is, by taking advantage of Ireland’s 
position, in a moment of weakness, under a flimsy 
pretext that one of the Popes of Rome who was also 
an Englishman, granted Henry the second a bull to 
subjugate her, which, if he did the first act of love and 
friendship that the hierarchy of Ireland ought to do 
for her, is to at once emphatically and positively ap¬ 
peal to the present illustrious pontiff' to annul a bull 
fraught with so much injustice, and could never prove 
any thing less than a curse to the church of which 
they are members. The wiley Englishman took ad¬ 
vantage of the promise of Christ to St. Peter, that 
whatever he would bind on earth would be bound in 
heaven. Upon that promise, the dishonest English¬ 
man took that advantage to impose upon mankind, and 
made that knot as fast as he could. With this encour¬ 
agement given by a base perversion of the intentions 
of the great Redeemer of mankind, in giving his in¬ 
structions to his faithful followers, and the imitation 
of the illustrious Dermot, Ireland’s first traitor, and 
the dissentions of the rulers, England imposed upon 
them, and what she could never effect by the sword, 
she effected in raising strifes and quarrels amongst 
her people until she has brought them to their present 
low, feeble and destitute condition after robbing them 
of every thing they ever possessed. She has refused 
to support them, and which is more intolerable to 
bear, has tried for centuries past., and up to the pres¬ 
ent time, by all the means in her power, by her slan¬ 
der and calumnies urged on by her inherent malice, 
spleen and virulence, to hold the Irish people up to 
the civilized world, as objects not worthy of support. 
The English people were always taught by their 
masters and rulers, to look upon the people of Ireland 


( 


as aliens to themselves in blood, in religion, and in 
country, as well as in their language, their manners, 
habits and customs, so that they have delighted in 
keeping them for their hewers of wood and drawers 
of water, and their governors have carried their cruel 
and inhuman treatment towards them to such a de¬ 
gree as to refuse them the means of sustaining 
life itself, in which they have caused humanity to 
blush in this country; for their conduct in trampling 
under foot all the laws that have ever been handed 
down to the human race by all the law-givers that 
have ever appeared amongst mankind from the foun¬ 
dation of the world, both human and divine, commen¬ 
cing with a Socrates, a Plato, a Confucius, to Moses, 
Aaron, and all the holy prophets and expounders of 
the old law, even the Son of God himself, who suf¬ 
fered the ignominious death of the Cross for the fallen 
race of man. They have trampled his holy precepts 
in the dust, their conduct in the present day puts in 
the shade the virtues of their Alfreds their Edwards, 
some of their Henries, besides a host of other patriots, 
statesmen and heroes which their country has in time 
produced. Their Beckets, their Howards, their Syd- 
nies, their Pitts and their Broughams, all of whom 
would blush for shame at their present venalty and 
turpitude. Their conduct is far more culpable in the 
sight of Heaven and every thing that we look upon 
as moral and religious on earth than that of the Hin¬ 
doos, the Sikhs, the Aflfganistans and the Chinese, 
which they have been robbing and plundering for years 
and holding them up to the world as barbarians, be¬ 
cause they know the right and still the wrong pursue. 
Their conduct to the Irish in 1847 ought to put the 
members of her government out of the pale of civiliza¬ 
tion and Christianity in all civilized and Christian na¬ 
tions on the globe. The savage aborigines of our wil¬ 
derness, when they roasted their victims at the stake, 
were not aware that they were breaking any rules of 
moral law, that law throws the broad mantle of ig¬ 
norance over them by which they stand exculpated in 


8 


the sight of the world as they knew no better. Here 
are a body of men in the midst of civilized Europe, in 
the enlightened nineteenth century, with all the light 
of civilization and Christianity staring them in the face, 
brighter than the noonday sun on the twentieth of June, 
sitting in their cushioned seats, puffed up with the ideas 
of their imaginary consequence, looking upon the mis¬ 
eries of a people which their impotency and unjust 
government have brought upon them, and instead of ma¬ 
king any exertions to extricate them from their wretch¬ 
ed position, are constantly devising plans to rivet their 
chains the closer. That law has not yet made its ap¬ 
pearance among mankind which can exculpate them. 
They, as the representatives of the British nation, are 
so intoxicated with their greatness, surrounded, as they 


are, by impregnable ramparts, the wooden walls of 
England, as they vauntingly call her navy, her vast 
armies which they transport all over the world to sub¬ 
due and keep under subjection their more feeble 
neighbors; her boundless dominions, upon which they 
proudly boast, the sun never sits, and more than all, 
their holy, but more properly might be called, their 
unholy alliances with the other despots of Europe, to 
keep the rest of mankind in fetters and in chains, that 
they seem to be utterly insensible to the cries of their 
starving fellow-creatures of Ireland. But the day may 
yet arrive when all the nations who are now under 
their control, will have their rights from them to the 
uttermost farthing, and the glory of their fame and na¬ 
tion will be known only in song and story. There 
seems to be no difference between their conduct to¬ 
wards Ireland at the present day and that of the old 
tyrant, Nero, one of the Roman Emperors, when he 
fired the city of Rome, proudly perched himself upon a 
pinnacle of one of her towers, playing his fiddle while the 
conflagration lasted, only that England contains within 
her bosom, a great many Neros, from her princes, 
dukes, marquisses, earls, lords, viscounts and baronets, 
to the vile and slanderous editors of her newspapers, 
whose most soothing balm for the afflictions of Ireland 


9 


is their worst abuse of her people. In this position of 
injustice in which the government of England has 
placed itself in the eyes of the world, those persons 
in this country, who are the descendants of the English, 
and feel proud of the name of Anglo-Saxon, could not 
show their devotion to the cause of liberty in no better 
way than to remonstrate with their older brethren of 
England, who have grown old in sin, and are steeped in 
blood and guilt, and tell them in mild and moderate 
but emphatic language to desist from their iniquitous 
course, to tell them that if the wheel of fortune has 
thrown power into their hands, they ought to be merci¬ 
ful and humane ; to tell them that on this Western hem¬ 
isphere, human nature has taken a wide scope to itself, 
of thought, word and action, and that in doing so, it 
has thrown aside the rotten principle of self, and is 
doing all in its power to carry out the pure and imma¬ 
culate principle that of the greatest good to the great¬ 
est number; that they do not wish them any longer 
to sully the fair fame which their descendants are so 
zealously trying to perpetuate on this continent; that 
on this side of the Atlantic, where Irishmen have an 
equal chance with their fellow men, they are not found 
to be inferior to any others—in the field following the 
plough, the mechanic’s shop, the battle field, or the 
forum; and that they cannot sanction the conduct of 
their older brethren of England any longer, in their bad 
treatment to those people who are in every respect as 
good as they are, both in body and in mind, and to 
adopt as a substitute for their cruelty towards them, 
the opposite course of putting the great principles of 
humanity, charity, and religion into active operation, 
and shew forth to the world that England has yet 
some traits of generosity left—that she is not totally 
lost to all the finer feelings of the human heart, nor to 
a want of a proper appreciation of the good opinion of 
the rest of mankind, in all Christian countries, and by 
shewing a desposition to co-operate with the friends of 
humanity to prevent them from starving, at least, she 
may yet redeem her name and character, and be looked 
2 




10 


m 


Upon like something approximating to human, instead 
of being considered a cruel and unfeeling monter, as 
she is now looked upon by all candid and honest phi¬ 
lanthropists ; the fact cannot he denied, that she is 
obliged to be looked upon as such by all true-hearted 
Irishmen, until she alters her conduct to their much- 
loved and cherished country. Should this suggestion 
meet the approbation of the high-minded and honora¬ 
ble portion of the Anglo-Saxon race in this fortunate 
country, who enjoy the blessings of that freedom and 
liberty which was wrung by superior prowess, valor 
and bravery, by Celt and Saxon blood, from the iron 
grasp of that same relentless tyranny which holds 
Ireland in its grasp at this time, and act upon it, it 
would have a tendency to modify the harshness and 
asperity of those who wield the rod of despotism over 
their feeble victims, and be the means of causing them 
to open their eyes to their true position, by showing 
them what government was originally intended for; it 
would be the means of letting the mixed race of Celt 
and Saxon who inhabit the British Isles, see the bless¬ 
ings resulting from free institutions in our favored land, 
and that the distinction between the races in this 
country, is merged solely in a mutual desire and ardent 
zeal for the public weal, and in that alone should the 
distinction be forgotten in those countries also, until 
the principles of equality and fraternity become as 
well understood as the most common household words, 
and the cap of liberty is worn in triumph by every 
Celt and Saxon, and the abominably odious institu¬ 
tions of despotism and tyranny, not only be well broken 
in pieces, but ground and pulverized, never more to 
cement, until man, the natural lord of creation, feels 
himself as much at home in one part of the globe as 
another, secure from the cruelty of his fellow beings. 
Such a remonstrance could not but have a salutary 
influence upon the conduct of the members of the 
English government. No matter how impervious their 
hearts are to the distress of their fellow beings, they 
are too proud to suffer themselves to be looked down 


i i 


upon in a dishonorable light, by the enlightened nations 
of Europe, or the United States, by remaining incorri¬ 
gible to the cries of the poor of their country, and 
those cries extending to all corners of the world, and 
far beyond the blue vaults which arch the heavens. 
While taking a retrospective glance at the wretched 
condition of Ireland, and the inhuman and unchristian- 
like manner in which she is treated by England, let 
us look upon our own position in this country, as not 
only Irishmen and their descendants, but as the friends 
of civil and religious liberty, as the friends of suffering 
humanity, looking on as observers in the distance; 
cannot we, then, each of us, separately and collectively, 
having the inherent right as well as the power, shew 
forth to the world such an example of determination 
on our part, as will make the success of our object 
inevitable—“ the freedom of Ireland V 7 which, in our 
endeavor to accomplish, we will do nothing more than 
our duty, for which she is calling aloud upon us, the 
whole civilized world expects from us, and our own 
consciences constantly urge upon us. It is a debt we 
owe to nature and to nature’s God, and until it is dis¬ 
charged, all who call themselves Irishmen, whether 
they are the descendants of the Annites, the William- 
ites, the Cromwellites, the Maryites, the Elizabethites, 
the Henryites, the Edwardites, the Strongbonians, or 
the much maligned and persecuted Milesian, whe¬ 
ther clerical or laymen of whatever grade or profession 
cannot be at peace with themselves, their country, or 
their God, there will be always something whisper¬ 
ing to them in a small, still voice, “your country is in 
slavery, and you ought to do every thing in your power 
to redeem her.” It is, then, for every Irishman who 
understands and feels this, to commence the good work 
in his own sphere, by making himself useful where he 
is most needed, until the cause would spread far and 
wide, like the broad rivers and great waters of our 
country, deriving their sources from the smaller 
streams, until, finally, by a united effort, there would 
be such a stout staple driven into one of the craggy 



rocks of the old ship of ocean wave, with as many 
chains attached to it as, we have States in the Union, 
and by a long pull, a strong pull, and a pull altogether, 
my life upon it, she would not long be what she is now, 
the beggar of the nations of the earth. To prevent 
which evermore, the pride of Irishmen ought of itself 
to urge them, and as long as they suffer it to be so, 
looks ridiculous and contemptible, while there is the 
least feasible prospect of her redemption. 

This country is the only beacon light of safety which 
Ireland has to look to in future for the redress of her 
grievances, and to which we must direct the attention 
of her people, in which we have the example before 
us of talents and capacity of the highest order, fully 
sufficient to originate, promote and consummate all the 
plans and projects which it ever has or will undertake, 
and will forever claim the foremost ranko n the scroll of 
fame, both in its civil and military capacity ; and as far 
as we can draw any analysis from history, transcends 
in its vast extent and inexhaustible resources, the vir¬ 
tue, patriotism, intelligence and the bravery of its in¬ 
habitants, all the other nations of the world—it stands 
on the pinnacle of fame, and there is none like it. 
With such an example before us, round and about us, 
the best model that was ever devised by human wis¬ 
dom for the government of the human race, can we 
hesitate to adopt it as a patern in our future efforts to- 
free our native land from worse than Egyptian bon¬ 
dage, and adopt as our motto, that which was deliver¬ 
ed as a priceless legacy by the illustrious father of his 
country to his countrymen, “ United we stand, divided 
we fall V 1 This is the bond of union which makes the 
man on the banks of the St. Lawrence, and the man 
on the banks of the Rio Grande feel that they are bro¬ 
thers, and should they ever meet, wold hail one ano¬ 
ther as such. So it is with the inhabitant on the banks 
of the Hudson, and one on that of the Columbia—seve¬ 
ral thousand miles each way; and here is a small isl¬ 
and, only three hundred miles long, and a little over half 
the distance in breadth, the inhabitants of which, (by 




13 


the cupidity, treachery, and rascally policy of a Lon¬ 
don junto of enormous beef eaters and beer drinkers,) 
are bribed, trained and taught to hate one another as 
though one portion of them were Indians and the other 
Hotentots. Will this state of affairs he suffered to 
continue any longer 1 God forbid. I hope and trust 
we have purer and more disinterested love for that 
land which we have been taught from our infancy to 
look upon as lovely ; as the Emerald Isle, the gem of 
ocean wave, the land of song and story, the island of 
Saints, of poets, patriots, statesmen and heroes, as well 
as respect for ourselves and the race we sprung from, 
and that we honor the manes of our ancestors, whose 
spirits are constantly calling upon us to do what is 
right, and enforce its dictates ; to not suffer their pos¬ 
terity in Ireland, who are our brothers and sisters and 
kindred and friends, to be any longer kept in the bonds 
of vice and ignorance, the truckling slaves of pampered 
ruffians, to which call I pray God every Irishman from 
henceforth and forever will respond. 

The primary object to which the attention of the 
friends of Ireland, both in the United States and the 
British Provinces should be directed now, is the dread¬ 
ful position she stands in from the blight that lias come 
' upon the people’s food, “ the potatowhich has come 
upon it with the velocity of electricity, extending to 
all portions of the Island ; and from the most authentic 
accounts, there will not be a sufficiency of that vege¬ 
table to feed the people till the first of January next ; 
the inevitable result of which will be a famine during 
the coming vear, with all its horrors and calamities. 
It is towards this great catastrophe that the thoughts of 
all Irishmen, not only on this side of the Atlantic but in 
Ireland, should be directed, by meeting it on the thresh¬ 
old and arresting its progress. All other considera¬ 
tions respecting her fate should be laid aside for the 
present, as indeed it will be as much as they can do to 
attend to that at this time, and that alone ; for better is 
it to accomplish one achievement well, than to have too 
many schemes on hand, without completing any. It 


would fulfil the prediction of the old phrase but too 
well—“ by having too many irons in the fire some are 
sure to burn.’ 7 By attending well to this call upon our 
best exertions, and with the blessings of divine Provi¬ 
dence, when we see the result of our labors blest with 
success, by preventing our countrymen from falling 
victims to a dreadful scourge, we will be repaid a 
thousand fold by the gratifying consciousness that we 
have done our duty, besides having the effect of uni¬ 
ting Irishmen closer in the bonds of union and fellow¬ 
ship, so closely, that all the machinations cunningly 
devised by villainy and treachery, can never again suc¬ 
ceed in severing. It is at such critical times like the 
present, which try men’s souls, that the noble, the 
generous and the brave of Ireland’s sons, should come 
forward with that characteristic generosity which is 
their inseparable birth-right, bequeathed to them by 
nature and the God of nature, and which no earthly 
power, not all the combined powers of the despots of 
the earth, banded together in closer compact than the 
Macedonian phalanx, can deprive them of. Thus will 
they shew an example to the world of union in a holy 
cause; and thus will it be said, when their purpose is 
effected, though the toil and fatigue was great, they nei¬ 
ther flagged nor got weary, and though they have been 
tried in the crucible, they have come out pure, with¬ 
out leaving much alloy behind ; and thus would it be 
made manifest to themselves, that let them hut once 
unite, and the world cannot produce the enemy that 
can keep them under; and should that day arrive for 
them to be called upon to meet the foes of liberty in 
battle array, and put their herculean shoulders to the 
wheel, as become the descendants of Heber and Her- 
emon of Fingal, Goul M’Mourn, Gssian and Oscar, the 
Melshaughlins, Brian Brorohme, the great O’Neal’s, 
Donald Coum, and the brave Sarsfield, besides the in¬ 
numerable hosts of heroes, which their country in time 
gave birth to, they would not suffer the stigma to remain 
long on the escutcheon of their country, that the last 
effort that was made for her redemption, was quelled, 



rri , 

I < > 


in the language of some, by a “ constable’s staff.” 
effect this desirable end, on a well-concerted and svs- 
tematic plan, every Irishman, instead of sending money 
to relieve the wants of his friend in Ireland, should re¬ 
mit him as much money as would enable him to quit 
being a witness of so much distress and misery, and 
come to this favored land, where he can find employ¬ 
ment, and the means of living abundant and cheap, 
and where in time lie would be more likely to forget 
his past sorrows. By this mode, Iris friend would be 
relieved at once, and placed in a position that ere long 
he could perform the same kind office to the nearest 
and dearest object of Ids affections. This is so simple 
a proposition, that all who are well disposed towards 
the amelioration of the condition of the poor of Ireland, 
cannot but agree as to its practicability as well as its 
feasibility, and the good that would result from it. 
Supposing the number of Irishmen in the United 
States and the British Provinces to lie one million and 


a half, more or less, it would make the population of 
the Island that number less. Such of our countrymen 
as are more blessed with fortune’s favors, in our cities 


and towns, could form themselves into societies for the 
accomplishment of the great and holy object of aiding 
the less fortunate of their countrymen, instead of rais¬ 
ing funds to feed them in Ireland, where, according to 
some accounts, it is partially doled out to those who 
are the real sufferers, and the remittances are at best 
subject to diminution, should engage the services of 
ship-owners, agents, and masters of vessels, of their 
own choice, in all the Atlantic ports, from East- 
port to Galveston, and send for as many sound 
and healthy persons as their means would warrant 
them; which, in unison with the individual exer¬ 
tions made, would afford great relief, by divesting 
her of a part of her burthen, and would give such 
an encouragement to the humane and charitable, 
both in England, Scotland and Ireland, that it is to be 
presumed they could afford comfort and consolation to 
the balance left on their hands. In the adoption of 


16 


this scheme, which could not, under the direction of e 
wise Providence, fail to be successful. Irishmen can¬ 
not but conceive, that in His inscrutible decrees, this 
call upon their exertions cannot be anything less than 
a loud warning to them—louder than thunder, sent 
forth by the artillery of Heaven, to remind man of his 
insignificance, to arouse him from his lethargies, and 
bring the old adage to recollection, that “ extraordinary 
measures require extraordinary meansthat from now 
to the end of time, they should unite, never to sever 
in spirit and in feeling, and although many oceans 
seas, climes and nations seperate them, they should 
all be unanimous on one subject—to free their coun¬ 
try ; for that it behoves them, like brave and honest 
men, to be fully resolved and determined on execu¬ 
ting, they should summon the self-sacrafices of those 
devoted heroes and patriots of all nations and ages, to 
their recollection, who braved all dangers, suffered 
unaccountable privations, lost all their property, and 
cheerfully yielded up their lives for the sake of their 
country. And how stands the case now, up to the 
age we live in ? Those men are looked upon by the 
most intelligent and enlightened of mankind, as pre¬ 
cious jewels, emitting rays so refulgent, towards all 
points of the compass, that the most intense darkness 
cannot obscure their glory ; while the memories of their 
oppressors are looked upon as the dull looking dross of 
earth. 

One year will not be lone: rolling round, and let us 
devote that year to charity and prayer, earnestly and 
fervently invoking Him who sits on his Throne on 
high, who has given the earth to the children of men, 
and who also favors the oppressed, when properly in¬ 
voked. Let us not be ashamed, then, to pray to him 
without ceasing. The heathen and Pagan nations of 
Greece and Rome, <fcc. did it in all their undertakings 
and emergencies, though their’s was not our God, but 
false and imaginary ones. The Jews never failed to 
have recourse to Him by humility, fasting and prayer, 
and the most earnest supplications, in their many cap- 




17 


tivities; and the great Redeemer of mankind recommen¬ 
ded his followers to pray without ceasing, to the great 
Father of the universe, and why not Irishmen pour out 
the sentiments of the feelings of their warm hearts in the 
hoar of their affliction, and humbly but earnestly beg of 
Him at present, to avert the calamity of famine from 
our country. Should not that be His pleasure, grant 
us the disposition to arrest its progress, and give us 
wisdom and strength to rid her of the scorpions which 
prey upon her vitals—to carry out the intentions of 
our best wishes to the fullest extent, and the best qual¬ 
ities of our nature prompt and suggest to us, in inducing 
as many as can possibly make their escape from the 
scenes of misery and wretchedness, on one hand, of 
bloated pride and intolerable oppression and cruelty on 
the other ; no pains should he spared nor means left un¬ 
tried, to improve the condition of such on taking their 
abode among us. For this purpose, the Irish Societies 
in the metropolis or principal seaport city of every State 
in the Union, and if their numbers are not sufficient, 
add to them, or form new ones, should procure the 
aid and co-operation of the most liberal and philan¬ 
thropic gentlemen of every county, parish, or district, 
in their respective States, who might become members 
and would be willing to aid them in selecting out such 
locations as will best suit the wants and wishes of 
those poor people, and place them* in that position the 
most congenial to their feelings, and in that occupation 
to which they have been most accustomed from their 
infancy, in their own native soi], that of agriculture. I 
will take one State for example : a State might con¬ 
tain thirty, forty or fifty counties, parishes or districts, 
more or less : the society in the metropolis, numbering, 
on conjecture, three or four hundred; out of that num¬ 
ber, a committee might he formed to the number of 
counties, parishes or districts in the State, of the most 
active, intelligent and zealous members of' the society; 
let each member of this committee, take the county, 

irge, in which he is best 

lare of influence; by the 

* *< 

o 
O 


parish or district under his ch 
kuown and has the greatest si 


exertions of each of these gentlemen, with the aid and 
assistance of the friends of humanity in the interior of 
the State, small sections of land could be selected out 
in all directions of the State, on which the agricultural 
portion of emigrants could at once resort to as their fu¬ 
ture home ; while those of other occupations could se¬ 
lect for themselves the towns and villages, and the 
most advantageous positions which would suit their 
inclinations best; while it is always understood, that 
exertions should be made to procure employment for 
all who seek it, in their respective avocations or call¬ 
ings. While this system would secure a home to the 
most needy and ignorant, it would remove them from 
the temptations of intemperance, vice and follies to 
which the large seaport cities in all countries are sub¬ 
ject to, and the haggard and care-worn emigrant would 
soon feel himself renovated in strength, from inhaling 
the fresh mountain air of the interior of our extensive 
country; having now thirty States in the Union, aver¬ 
aging a population of seven hundred thousand inhabi¬ 
tants, any two of w hich are larger than Ireland. Sure¬ 
ly, on tlie same principle, they could contain, with all 
ease, a hundred thousand each, and afford abundant 
employment for them, who in process of time would 
add to the strength and wealth of this great republic. 
During this activity on the part of the friends of hu¬ 
manity to provide for the bodily wants of our country¬ 
men, their moral culture ought not to be neglected. 
Those same societies ought to adopt the means of af¬ 
fording those people all the information in their power, 
of the nature, condition and institutions of our great and, 
growing country; so that they might, Avith as little delay 
as possible, become intelligent and useful members of 
society, and not be a drag on the land of their adoption. 
This can be done by those who inhabit the cities and 
towns of every State, by selecting lecturers of their 
own choice, or see that they use every other neces¬ 
sary means to inform themselves upon all subjects that 
will have a tendency to promote their future welfare, 
in thus endeavoring to promote the happiness of their 


19 


fellow creatures. Hence, the friends of Ireland will 
have the conscious gratification to feel and know that 
they have performed a sacred and holy duty, at the 
same time that they have done so with the perfect 
knowledge that it devolves upon them, and them alone, 
and without any appeal to those characters who hold 
their all in trust—such a trust, however, that they 
do not feel willing to relinquish until compelled. They 
are well aware, that from that foul source, our coun¬ 
trymen have nothing to expect—save that, when they 
ask for bread they get a stone. This unity of action 
will have the effect of refuting the allegation made up¬ 
on them, that u the united spirit of mankind was not in 
them,” to refute which, all Irishmen of common sense, 
the high feeling which they naturally possess, and with 
a soul as big as a pea, ought to concentrate their 
thoughts evermore; upon that warning urged from so 
many sources, of union among Irishmen, and constantly . 
reiterated by him who for half a century kept the shat¬ 
tered bark of their nativity floating on the waters of 
agitation, by telling them that “ who would be free, 
themselves must strike the blow.” On the strength 
of this idea, the discussion of the position of our un¬ 
fortunate country should never be abandoned nor lost 
sight of among Irishmen, while the sun shines or water 
runs, whatever part of the world on which they would 
be situated, as long as they remain in the grasp of her 
relentless tyrant. Oh no ! that would be paracidal, 
and by no means becoming the character of Irishmen. 
Next to the salvation of their souls, her history, her 
lamentable situation and future destinies should be 
indelibly engraved on every Irishman’s heart; con¬ 
stantly revolving in their minds how they could aid 
and assist to free her from her shackles. In writing 
home to their friends, they ought to inform them of 
the nature of our free institutions and admirable form 
of government, contrasting it, in sympathetic language, 
with the iron rod with which they are governed by 
an unjustly usurped power, divested of all sympathy 
for their distress and the misery under which they 


i 




labor; and consequently ought to be held in utter ab¬ 
horrence and contempt by them. And inasmuch as 
it is revolting to their feelings to suffer it, their best 
alternative would be to get rid of its baneful influence 
over the mind as over the body, by coming as soon as 
possible to this land of freedom. 

In all the avocations of life in which Irishmen are 
engaged to obtain an honest and honorable livelihood 
in this country, they should never forget the obliga¬ 
tions they owe to their beloved country. They should 
bear it in mind, that in her distress borne down so hard 
upon by the- weight of the oppressor, she calls aloud 
on them to be frugal, sober and industrious, as it is 
from their stout hearts and strong arms alone, that 
she expects to be redeemed, one day or another, from 
the galling yoke of the perfidious enemy. To prepare 
themselves for that event, they ought never to omit 
any opportunity of making themselves as familiar as 
possible with the use and management of every de¬ 
scription of fire-arms, in the large cities and towns, 
where they are more numerous ; besides attaching 
themselves to volunteer companies, they should se¬ 
lect large, capacious rooms, and appoint certain 
evenings tor drill and discipline, which would affrod 
them exercise for the mind as well as the body, 
and where they could while away a dull hour, much 
better than to be spent in the monotony of inacti¬ 
vity ; ami in case of emergency, they would find them¬ 
selves prepared to stand up, at any future time, in vin¬ 
dication of their adopted country, when called upon. 
Perseverance, activity and vigilence, combined with 
virtue and intelligence, ought to characterise their 
future career in this glorious land of liberty, where 
they have an equal chance, and where there are no pe¬ 
nal laws to obstruct either their sentiments or their 
actions ; with the advantages of which, by adhering 
to those noble virtues of rectitude and patriotism, com¬ 
bined with their industry, tact and native talent, 
will they have the gratification of seeing themsel ves 
merge on this Western hemisphere, from that condi- 


21 


tion of destitution to which England’s thirst for robbe¬ 
ry has consigned them for ages, and surrounded with 
the blessings attendant on their honest exertions, and 
scattering to the winds the slanders heaped upon them 
by her hirelings. 

The magnanimous people of this great Republic, un¬ 
derstand their position well, and are possessed of too 
much sense to consider it a disgrace to be poor, when 
they so well understand that a people have been rob¬ 
bed ; and there is no man who is a Christian in belief, 
but what would rather be a beggar, and counted as 
such at any time, than to be looked upon as a robber; 
they well know that Irishmen have been unfortunate in 
becoming the victims of that great Colossus which tried 
to put her foot, at one time, on the freemen of America, 
but failed in the attempt. They are also aware of the 
causes of those disasters, from the earliest connexion of 
England with them. When they trace back to the 
time of Ireland’s first invasion, they perceive a race of 
people descended from one stock, highly incensed 
against one another, at that time inhabiting an isolated 
island, while at the same time England was composed 
of the combined intellects of the many nations by which 
she had been previously overrun—the Brittons, the ab¬ 
origines of the soil, the Piets and Scots, the Gauls, the 
Danes and Romans, Saxon and Norman races—all will 
allow that the wounds inflicted by the quarrels and 
feuds of kindred, are more difficult to be cicatrized 
than between the most distant races. The nearest land 
to this island is Great Britain, extending several miles 
to the north and south, three times its size each way, 
and containing three times its population. 

During the period of five hundred years it took En¬ 
gland to conquer its people, who, unfortunately for them, 
never united in the full strength of their nation, to give 
the enemy battle, so great was their hostility to one 
another, and so liable to be duped by the promises of 
the common enemy, who made good use of their want 
of union, and formed alliances with one chiftian to chas¬ 
tise the other, and the game was so well understood be- 




/ 


OO 

tween the Saxons (who had a foothold on the island 
and the English government,) that they might be well 
compared to two rogues going to court, who at all haz¬ 
ards are determined to gain their case. The one would 
say to the other, whatever 1 say, do you swear to it. 
So it was between them ; the Saxon would provoke the 
Celt to rebellion, and when the appeal was made to 
the government, it would decide in favor of its own 
blood; right, of course, was laid aside. It is very 
plain, then, that the present government of England is 
the representative of those robbers, and its members 
are making themselves more infamous, by suffering 
their fellow-citizens to starve while they possess the 
means of supporting them. Besides these advantages 
which the English had, they frequently had to draw 
upon the continent, whenever the Irish were too hard 
for them, for those busliy-faced soldiers the Americans 
knew so well in ’76, the Hessians. England being 
more contiguous to the continent, and more in connex¬ 
ion with Germany, could draw upon reinforcements of 
these at any time; nevertheless, in the fierce feuds and 
hard-fought battles with those chieftians, there was 
many a Saxon and German who had to bite the dust, 
and one who stands on the records of Ireland’s fame, 
that would not allow one of them to escape to toll the 
tale of their defeat, in which he acted under the con¬ 
viction that Englishmen had no more right to his soil 
than he had to their’s, or no more than a farmer, a me¬ 
chanic, a doctor, or a lawyer had to go into the premi¬ 
ses of his neighbor and oust him out by main force—that 
inflexible hero became the victim of English gold, by 
the assassin’s knife, on a foreign shore, as an instance 
of England’s mode of conquest. 

Having thus, in a very imperfect manner, suggested 
what are the bounden duties which devolve upon every 
Irishman in this country, at this critical juncture of 
Ireland’s misfortunes, with the one-eighth of her popu¬ 
lation destroyed by starvation, a vast number of those 
who survived, thrown out on the roadside or in the 
ditches, frequently to as large a number as one or two 



hundred at a time in one place, and that occurring' every 
day—her patriots transported into ignominious and 
lonely exile, as though they were horse thieves or sheep 
stealers—her present crop withered and blasted, the 
undoubted consequence of which will be a relapse of 
the last famine with its inseparable attendant, a plague 
worse than the one which preceded—I would venture 
to remind them of a duty which they ought to per¬ 
form to the present inhabitants of Ireland, to enable 
them the better to emancipate themselves from British 
thraldom. It should be the duty, then, of the Irish So¬ 
cieties in the United States and the British Provinces, 
as well as every individual Irishman, to give it as their 
opinion to them freely, that the first preparatory step 
that all who have the freedom of Ireland at heart, and 
the happiness of her people, and which would be most 
likely to bring consolation and contentment home to 
their bosoms, if not to all to the majority of her popu¬ 
lation, is for her patriots and learned men to join with 
the clergy of all denominations, hand in hand, and urge 
upon the people without ceasing, the absolute necessi¬ 
ty of harmony, unanimity and peace amongst them¬ 
selves ; that as a Christian people there is no command 
more imperative upon them than to love one another; 
that the scripture teaches, by the mouth of the great 
Redeemer of mankind, that he who pretends to be a 
Christian, and hates his brother, is a liar, and the truth 
is not in him, and that such Irishmen as hate one an¬ 
other, are no Christians, be their profession of belief 
what it may. A spirit of conciliation ought to be the 
most prominent feature which should characterize the 
conduct of Irishmen evermore. It is this spirit of 
kindness which brings men nearest to the spirit of 
Christianity, and distinguishes them most from the 
brute creation, and those who are not endowed with it, 
no matter what their pretensions are, possess no claim 
to its divine origin. These precepts ought to be incul¬ 
cated on the minds of the people by the most learned 
and talented of the gentry of every locality, and in the 
towns and cities. With such efforts, and the circula- 





24 


tion of pamphlets, and the erection of schools, as well 
as a choice selection of school masters, in every parish, 
could not fail to attract the blessings of Heaven upon 
their laudible and praiseworthy efforts. There is no 
occupation, next to the sacred ministry, which ought 
to be held in higher estimation by any nation or peo¬ 
ple who are free, or wish to be so, than to that class 
to whom the youth of the country are entrusted to their 
care. This course of action would soon endear the 
people to one another; and if it did not bring plenty to 
their homes at once, would bring peace to their fire¬ 
sides, and the promise of future blessings, and would 
be the means, in all future ages, to keep them firmly 
united in any of their national undertakings, (for Ire¬ 
land will be a nation yet.) It is as little disgrace to an 
Irishmen to be ignorant as to be poor, for that ungod¬ 
ly nest of vipers of the modern Babylon were not satis¬ 
fied with robbing them, but kept them for a whole cen¬ 
tury, by their penal laws, from that most invaluable of 
all earthly blessings, that of an education. The price 
ot a wood ’s head (five pounds sterling,) was the re¬ 
ward offered for the head of a priest. I have seen my¬ 
self where one was beheaded. The Catholic school¬ 
masters in those days of intolerance, were hunted with 
as much avidity as a hawk pounces upon his prey. It 
is no wonder then, that the majority of the present race 
of Irishmen are ignorant. There hardly ever were sor¬ 
rows like unto our sorrows, and should be selected 
as the link upon which to unite, as prosperity hap¬ 
pened to be the breaker upon which our ancestors split 
in their erroneous notions of worldly glory, and their 
earnestness to attain it. It is on the calm, placid and 
resigned posture of sorrow that all who have ever felt 
the heavy burthen of unlawful and ungodly usurpa¬ 
tion and its persecutions, the effects of those false doc¬ 
trines taught by the disciples of Nimrod and their 
crouching minions, “ that might is light,” together with 
the lovers of justice, of truth and liberty, ought to 
unite, not only in Ireland, but in England, Scotland 
and Wales, when the bright day of freedom might be- 


25 


gin to dawn, and the light of civilization would spread 
its lurid flame to illumine the land, and expand its 
soothing influence far and wide, never more to be ex¬ 
tinguished. For any man in these United States, who 
properly appreciates what he enjoys of the blessings 
accruing from freedom, to say or assert that England 
is a civilized nation, or any other country where one 
part of her people have to keep the muzzles of their 
guns and the point of the bayonet to the throats of 
their fellow-creatures, whom the world proclaims as 
good citizens as they are, would be as false as Genesis 
and Revelations are true. Sound reason, common 
sense, and Christian truth, will proclaim them to be 
only half-civilized, and in a semi-barbarious state. In 
this state of affairs, it should be the darling object of 
every good and honest man, who hates iniquity and 
loves justice, to join those who are already enlisted in 
the cause of a reformation, and to facilitate the im¬ 
provement of good old England, by doing all in his 
power to assist in dragging her out of the mire of se¬ 
mi-barbarism, to which an infamous and blackguard 
clique of gormandizers have consigned her. By such 
exertions they would make her a happy nation, her 
people contented at home and respected abroad ; they 
would be on the same footing with their chivalrous 
neighbor, France, and the chains which now bind them 
would be broken into fragments so small, that no smith 
would ever undertake the job to join the pieces. 

The honorable and high-minded English republi¬ 
cans of the present day, cannot but feel mortified to 
think that their ancestors have been made the tools of 
corruption and villainy to rob their neighbors, the Irish, 
and that vast numbers of their countrymen are in the 
same diabolical employment at the present day, to up¬ 
hold a select few in the enjoyment of their ill-gotten 
booty, and consequently cannot be looked upon by 
Irishmen in any other light than the upholders of rob¬ 
bery. Their sensibility cannot endure the stigma so 
indelibly impressed upon the minds of the Irish towards 
them, without making an effort to allay it. By joining 
4 


26 


in the ranks of all who are favorable to the extension 
of liberty and the annihilation of tyranny, although 
Irishmen are aware that thousands of Englishmen are 
innocent of the charge, not only of a participation, but 
in sanctioning the robberies of their unscrupulous fel¬ 
low-countrymen, still they cannot dissipate the thought 
from their minds; it is inseparably connected with 
their systems—consequently all moral law gives them 
the perfect right, whenever appearances warrant suc¬ 
cess, to drive all intruders from their soil, as so many 
beasts of prey, with the same impunity that a man 
would shoot a dog which he found trespassing on his 
chicken coop. 

Notwithstanding that Irishmen know that their an¬ 
cestors have been robbed by the ancestors of the pre¬ 
sent race of Englishmen, it is not to revenge the deeds of 
former days that their minds are directed at this time ; 
it is to the fact that the English government still con¬ 
tinues to oppress Ireland, and that so hard that the 
world knows it. Liberty weeps for her, and her genu¬ 
ine sons who understand her position, are indignant, 
and the honorable portion of the human race will no 
longer suffer it. It lias gone too far—it has grown in¬ 
to a flower—the low cunning and craft of tyranny can¬ 
not conceal it, and its obliged to be put a stop to. 
There are many powers on the alert to see that Ire¬ 
land must be righted. France has made a promise to 
Ireland, which she is too honorable and chivalrous on 
being reminded of it, not to perform, which, in a na¬ 
tional point of view, she is as much bound to perform 
as one honorable individual is bound to perform a pro¬ 
mise to his fellow. Spain, whose ancient glories the 
Irish exile delights to dwell upon, when he thinks of 
the close associations of his ancestors with the brave 
and chivalrous Castilian—the day is not far distant 
when both will revive the memories of old reminisc¬ 
ences, and afford aid to a long suffering and oppressed 
nation, which so earnestly appeals to them. 

Nations may well be compared to individuals. Some 
are fortunate, others unfortunate. It is a duty which 





27 


the fortunate owe to the unfortunate, to render them as¬ 
sistance in both instances, nationally or individually. 
It is evident to every enlightened mind of sound com¬ 
mon sense, that if Ireland was of equal extent to En¬ 
gland in length and breadth, and in population, with 
an army and navy equal in numbers and strength, and 
with sufficient funds to sustain her, it is as much as 
the world would expect for her to be victorious in war; 
whereas, as matters stand, Ireland is but one third the 
size of Great Brittain, and containing not more than a 
third of her population, without an army or navy, or 
capital, containing as many traitors upon her soil as 
the spotted leopard. Ilow, in that position, she alone 
can extricate herself from the grasp of the tyrant, is a 
mystery to me. With all due deference to the opi¬ 
nions of others, I venture to say she must be redeem¬ 
ed by the devoted sons and admirers of liberty of all 
climes, as a nation in distress, and it must be done. 
When that time arrives, the sons of Erin will not be 
found wanting. Methinks the sons of Scotia too, the 
the land of Bruce and Wallace, will assist in the holy 
cause of upsetting rotten dynasties, and by one great 
effort, join their neighbors of England and Ireland to 
cut the gordon knot which binds their lot to the scor- 
peon lash of slavery. When thus united, the Reba- 
cites, the descendant of the ancient British Celt, will 
not be found missing—he will be to the rescue. Then 
wall liberty triumph, and the primative days of hones¬ 
ty and simplicity appear amongst them, and the op¬ 
pressors of the human race will be made to see that 
they are nothing more than common mortals, instead 
of imagining themselves a peculiar caste, a kind of 
demi-gods, in those days of their revelry and debauch¬ 
ery, and misery and destitution of their victims. 

While we would fondly hope that the enthusiastic 
and warm admirers of liberty of the surrounding na¬ 
tions were taking the condition of Ireland into serious 
consideration, her sons, as if with one heart and one 
mind, should determine at once their future course of 
action; and their first determination should be to make 


28 


no compromise with the common enemy, short of a full 
equality of rights and privileges to all Irishmen, that 
Englishmen are already in possession of, warranted and 
guaranteed by the intervention of a neighboring power. 
As England has forfeited the confidence of Irishmen 
in all their previous treaties, this, and a repeal of the 
Union, are the only concessions which should satisfy 
the people of Ireland. Until these demands are ac¬ 
ceded to, every Irishman should come to the same de¬ 
termination with her leading men, of accepting no of¬ 
fice from the British government, not so much as to 
enlist as a soldier in their army, or a sailor in their na¬ 
vy. Time was when there was no other alternative 
for them but to do so or starve, placed so by the policy 
of their rulers. 

There should be a straight line of demarkation drawn 
at once between Irish patriots of all classes, and Irish 
traitors. Even Irishmen now in the employment of 
England, ought to be genteely recommended to quit it. 
If they can’t get employment otherwise, let them go to 
some other country, for there are many fine countries 
abroad, and nobody in them. Let all, of every sept 
and sect, never suffer one of their numbers to receive 
English pay, or become their hewers of wood or draw¬ 
ers of water any longer. Let all such as break through 
these rules, be looked upon by the advocates of liberty 
with the contempt they deserve—let it in idea amount 
to treason against the honor and dignity of Ireland.— 
By a few examples on the part of some, and a little 
teaching to the people, this idea would soon be well 
understood—so much so, that the name of traitor would 
become as odious amongst the people as a Jack Ketch. 
I do not know but what it would be a good idea to 
procure the portraits of all Irish traitors since the con¬ 
nexion between Ireland and England, and exhibit them 
in every city and town throughout the British Isles* 
France, Spain and the United States, and to have it 
proclaimed far and near. That should be the fate of 
all traitors who evermore would betray the cause of 
their country. Furthermore, they ought not to be suf- 




29 


fered to exist one day after they were discovered; they 
should be shot down like obnoxious birds of prey. 
The advocates of Irish liberty should not be satisfied 
with doing all in their power to promulgate the doc¬ 
trines of democracy, but also put them in practice, by 
shewing the example to the people, that all men were 
born free and equal, as it is now understood in repub¬ 
lican countries. 

Indeed it looks too contemptible, that while the idea 
is understood from the Russian settlements to Cape 
Horn, with but few exceptions, and all over chivalrous, 
glorious and sunny France, that all men are on an 
equality, that in so small a country as Ireland, a man 
has to take oflf his hat, like a beggar, to another man 
no better than himself, with the astounding titles of 
“ my Lord,” and “ my Duke,” and “ my Earl,” <fcc., it 
looks too humiliating any longer to be tolerated by 
the lovers of freedom ; and if there are any people under 
the sun, that ought to hold monarchy in contempt, and 
look upon it as a humbug, it is the Irish. It is that 
rotten system that has brought them to their present 
position, consequently, if they wish to make efforts to 
bring their country to rights, it must be done on the 
very extreme principle, that of Democracy, as the only 
sure basis upon which the ship of state could again be 
righted. Notwithstanding that it is a hard doctrine for 
the proud of heart to adopt and accede to, nevertheless 
it is the onlv means of salvation left to them, under their 
present circumstances. But let them listen to the ad¬ 
monitions of those friends who have their interests 
dear at heart, and who are part and parcel of them¬ 
selves, that the change would be to them as though 
they emerged from darkness to light. In that event, 
justice would take the place of injustice, virtue would 
supercede vice, pure and undefiled religion would be 
more adhered to and better respected; peace, harmony 
and friendship would reign amongst the people, instead 
of jealousy, distrust and hatred; and above all, our 
beloved country, being redeemed, regenerated, and dis¬ 
enthralled, would take her place, once more, amongst 


m 


30 


the nations of the earth, never more to emerge into 
either barbarism or slavery. To commence the prac¬ 
tice of democracy amongst themselves in Ireland, let 
not the acquisition of a few acres of land or a few 
pounds sterling, more or less, nor any pride of ancestry, 
cause one man to think himself above his neighbor; 
let every man be taken for what he is worth in princi- 
cle and action, talent and zeal for the cause of his coun¬ 
try and of liberty; let the descendants of the O’Con¬ 
nors, the O’Neals, the O’Briens, the M’Carthys, and the 
Strongbonians, the Fitzgeralds, the Fitzmaurices, (fee. 
not think themselves degraded by shaking hands with 
all good and honest carpenters, shoemakers tailors, (fee. 
and the poor agriculturist; but let them invite them to 
their houses, place them at their tables, and in the mag¬ 
nanimity of their souls, let them say to each of them, 
I emancipate you; by which they would at once se¬ 
cure the confidence of these men, and gain the admira¬ 
tion and applause of the world ; and instead of looking 
up to England as a little god, they should turn their 
attention to the cultivation of these men’s minds; in 
doing which, they would throw aside any imputation 
that they participated with the disciples of Nimrod, to 
keep the noses of their fellow men to the grinding 
stone. For this noble, generous and god-like act, roy¬ 
alty could neither hang nor transport them, while it 
would be the heaviest blow that could be inflicted on 
its devoted head. By these men assuming such a lofty 
position, the very extreme of its infernal antipodes of 
royalty, Ireland yet might stand erect, and in a cool, 
calm and resolute attitude, raise her head above the 
horizon of the troubled waters. She would see be¬ 
tween her vision and the setting sun, the hand of warm 
and enthusiastic friendship extended towards her, by 
the aid of which, with the elastic bound of a young 
maiden escaping from her brutal captor, she would 
reach the haven of safety and bid him defiance ; and 
the day of her jubilee may yet arrive that she would 
assume the ascendency, and dictate laws to her proud 
dictator. For the accomplishment of which, it needs 


only for Irishmen to be true to themselves, and look 
altogether to the United States, and the inducements 
which they offer, by all the manifestations which their 
brave, generous and humane inhabitants have always 
shown towards their relief, they would make their 
country what their most sanguine patriots wish her to 
be, “ First flower of the earth, and gem of the sea.” 

No one can deny, that from the earliest ages of the 
world, from the day that the lofty walls of Troy were 
crumbled to the dust, and the house of Israel took its 
departure from amongst a barbarous people, emigration 
has been the most leading trait in the history of the 
human race, and of nations—whether to extricate them¬ 
selves, when surrounded and oppressed by their ene¬ 
mies, or in the might and majesty of their strength 
they filled up the limits of their original bounderies. 
Greece, in the palmiest days of her glory, sent out her 
colonies. Rome, once the proud mistress of the world, 
did the same ; and innumerable instances might be 
adduced, of other nations, bv which the wilderness was 

s' ' «/ 

made to blossom like the rose ; and by a sudden bound 
for a change of air and climate, man, proud and stub¬ 
born man, the lord of creation, carried with him the 
archives of his native land, and found himself in pos¬ 
session of a home in another clime, dispensing the bles¬ 
sings of law and justice to his fellow, as the faithful 
representative of his ancestors. It is exceedingly to 
be regretted, that this most salutary measure for the 
amelioration and improvement of the human race, has 
never been taken proper advantage of by our people ; 
on the contrary, it has been entirely lost sight of, total¬ 
ly neglected. Although emigration for several years 
has afforded the promptest and most prominent relief, 
but to them always as a last resort, it has been con¬ 
ducted in any other way but that of an effective and 
systematic one. With the exception of Baltimore, 
there is no other town or city in this great country, 
that can properly be said to be settled directly from 
Ireland ; the consequence of which has been, that the 
condition of our people when they land on our shores, 



32 


is like sheep without a shepherd, and no one knows, 
but their own scalded hearts, and he who feeds the 
young ravens of the valley, and clothes the fields in 
gorgeous verdure, of their trials and their sufferings. 
I speak from experience. Let any body look at the 
long list of advertisements in the few newspapers 
which are issued in this country to advocate the cause 
of the forlorn Irish emigrant, wanting information of 
Irish men and Irish women, who are missing from 
their friends, like sheep lost in a snow-storm. It is to 
this sad and melancholy state of affairs, regarding the 
condition of the forlorn exile on a foreign shore, and 
the many causes which impel them to encounter their 
innumerable privations, to obviate which in future, 
that I would most particularly call the attention of 
such of our countrymen, in both the United States and 
the British Provinces, as have wealth and influence, 
and whose voices are by no means likely to be slight¬ 
ed, for them unanimously to address their fellow-coun¬ 
trymen of Ireland, and in such a voice and manner that 
cannot be mistaken, and tell them emphatically, that 
they had the abilities and the means, if they but gave 
it the sanction of their will and pleasure, to save their 
country still from destruction. 

It is useless for anybody to deny, that there is yet 
sufficient wealth in Ireland, and in the possession of 
all such as ought to be Irish in feeling, as would, by 
proper application, redeem her from all difficulty, and 
would remove the imputation from them, that they 
were any longer wearing the gorgeous but slavish 
robe of eastern luxury and effeminacy, while their 
country presented such a spectacle of misery be¬ 
fore the world. It is to their feelings that appeals 
should be made, and it is upon them it altogether 
devolves; it is they who have the wealth of the na¬ 
tion, and who naturally ought to possess her pride, 
and their souls ought to rise commensurate with the 
times, and like the stout but fearless mariner in the 
storm, halloo to the man on the mast head, help to fix 
the spars, sails and rigging, put the helm to leeward, 


t 


I 


QQ 


turn her head to the wind, and weather the storm. If, 
then, men will do so instead of remaining inactive, 
with folded arms, and spend the time in unavailing 
regret of their dangerous position, they will not only 
he the savious of their country, which would give them 
an honorable name to the end of time, in the page of 
the historian, but might be the means of adding to 
their coffers wealth in abundance, and fame which 
which would fill the whole earth. 

Those to whom appeals might be made to with im¬ 
punity, are they who constitute no small share of the 
bone and sinew of the Irish nation ; of those are the 
wealthy, intelligent, liberal and enterprising merchants 
of her large cities, aided by such large landholders as 
are equally generous and liberal, and who feel for their 
country, combined with the temperate, industrious 
and talented portion of the Irish people ; all these com¬ 
bined, certainly could not fail to accomplish great and 
lasting results, when properly directed, for their coun¬ 
try’s good. What their attention should be particu¬ 
larly directed to, is the large extent of country which 
we have gained in our last war with Mexico—a thou¬ 
sand miles in extent—containing large and capacious 
harbors, navigable rivers, running many miles in ex¬ 
tent, through rich and fertile lands, abounding with 
fish, upon the beaches and banks of which will in time 
be built large and populous cities, sending off their 
thousand ships to foreign ports, and as many more re¬ 
turning, and every other evidence of wealth and pros¬ 
perity, as well as all other indications of the busy hum 
of life, which every good friend to this country wishes 
to see realized with as little delay as possible.— 
Could the attention of our wealthy merchants and 
large landholders, be directed to tins fine region of 
country, New Mexico and California, abounding in 
inexhaustible resources of minerals and ores, besides 
its many unexplored sources. It is impossible to cal¬ 
culate, or even conjecture, what would be its termina¬ 
tion. It would surely be no difficult matter for the 
cities of Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Waterford, Belfast, 
5 


% 





4 


34 

and Galloway, to appoint competent commissioners 
and engineers to this territory, which is three times 
the size of Ireland, who would select the most eligible 
sites to erect cities upon, to which there would be no 
hindrance to their accomplishing, as all our public 
lands are open to the first settlers, who are secured by 
the benevolent and wise laws of our government, from 
being encroached upon by the cunning and craft of 
selfish speculators, and though extremely laudable, is 
only in accordance with that magnanimity which cha¬ 
racterises all other acts of our beloved government, in 
which it displays its superiority over that of any 
other on the globe. We have, besides this extensive 
range of country, abundance of land upon which they 
could do the same—the broad Mississippi alone, w ith 
its tributary streams, extending many thousand miles, 
is sufficient to contain, not only the population of Ire¬ 
land, but of all the British isles. With all these ad¬ 
vantages, there is nothing more necessary, than for all 
the friends of Ireland to commence the enterprise, and 
when once it is begun, it will sustain itself. The rich 
of Ireland will redeem their characters, the poor of 
Ireland will be not only kept from starving, hut made, 
in process of time, happy and prosperous, and the de¬ 
voted son of Erin who loves his country, could sleep 
in peace. To effect which, all societies as they are 
now formed, should never be dissolved, either in Ire¬ 
land or this country. The names of the gentlemen 
composing the New York directory, with the illustrious 
name of Robert Emmet at its head, is a sufficient gua¬ 
ranty that all affairs respecting the w elfare of Ireland 
and Irishmen will be strictly attended to, and all who 
wish to have the sacred cause sustained, should never 
discontinue their subscriptions; and if they cannot 
effect the completion of their wishes, they could not 
fail to do a great deal of good, and leave the balance 
as a legacy to their posterity, who might be more ar¬ 
dent and more fortunate. 

In taking this liberty of intruding my views of the 
unfortunate position of our native land, upon my fel- 



low-countrymen, presuming that all and every one of 
them will consider, that besides the cause I have been 
impelled by my ardent feelings on the condition which 
our country presents ; and if I have intruded upon wi¬ 
ser counsels, it is with a desire to urge upon them more 
urgent and determined action, if upon superior talents 
and wisdom, it is to elicit from those sources, plans 
great and capacious, commensurate with the inherent 
and wonted display which they naturally possess— 
it is in the strength of those feelings and views, 
that I earnestly conjure them, by every thing that 
is honorable, patriotic and sacred, to discuss my pro¬ 
posals well, and bring all the faculties of their minds 
to bear upon them and the honest convictions of 
their minds, and. if they do not agree with them 
in sentiment, let them be laid aside as not wor¬ 
thy of notice ; if otherwise, there should he no delay 
in taking action upon them. As it is our common 
country in whose behalf I have raised my voice, and 
it is towards her situation that the minds of all her 
genuine sons should he directed, to adopt such mea¬ 
sures, when proposed, as would he more likely to ef¬ 
fect her delivery. Without attaching any importance 
to names or individuals, experiencing the sad reality 
that I have borne my share of the heat and burthen of 
her wrongs, and that I have so far in life, in my hum¬ 
ble sphere, discharged my duties to my country, I sub¬ 
scribe myself, as one of the indiginous sons of her soil, 
in her name, Your most obedient 

and humble servant, 
HIBERNICUS. 


POSTSCRIPT. 

Since writing the above intelligence lias been receiv¬ 
ed of the prorogation of the British Parliament by 
her majesty Queen Victoria in person, of which she is 
but the mouth-piece, to which she exultingly proclaims 
in her speech that “ the murderers who have spread 




36 


terror through Ireland were apprehended tried convict¬ 
ed and executed The good lady must have forgotten 
at the time, or probably she has never been informed, 
that two-thirds or more of the would-be nobility of her 
dominions are the descendants of the assassins of Irish, 
Sotch and Welsh cliieftians ; an impartial world will 
not hesitate to decide that the individual or individuls 
who would confine his or their victim or victims in 
close quarters and calmly look upon them die by inches 
until life became extinct, are a hundred thousand times 
more guilty than those who kill, when goaded on to 
madness by a constant reiteration of injuries, insults 
and persecutions ; but 1 venture to predict, the day is 
not far distant when all queens will he looked upon 
in no better light than a she wolf surrounded, by her 
cubs, with such panthers, leopards and tigers to pro¬ 
vide for them as those men who now compose their 
cabinets. 

The recent manifestations made by the unfortunate 
inhabitants to contend with the British forces, is a sure 
demonstration that Ireland will never he at peace as 
long as she remains attached to England, and should 
arouse the minds of all who sympathise with her con¬ 
dition, to redoubled action.—There should he a link 
formed never to he broken until her emancipation from 
the tyrant is accomplished ; nor should the end of a 
rope be let slip, nor a cord be allowed to slacken of 
the present organization in this country until Ireland 
is crowned with victory. 

Later accounts still, represent the country in a very 
unsettled state. In the counties of Waterford and 
Tipperary, the peasantry are up in arms, and are so 
exasperated that they seem to disregard the admoni¬ 
tions of their best friends, the Catholic Clergy, who 
are aware that their attempts to cope successfully with 
the disciplined troops of their enemies, are fruitless, 
unless by the spontaneous rising of the people, from 
Donoghadee to Leamlara, and from the Giant s Cause¬ 
way to Cape Clear. 



The following, as taken from an English paper, 
gives a sad picture of the condition of affairs, and is a 
fair exemplification of the language of old Scotian 
bard, that “ Man’s inhumanity to man causes endless 
thousands mourn.” 

“ Brutality op the Irish Landlords. —The Lon¬ 
don Dispatch gives a heart-rending picture of the work 
of depopulation now going on in the South of Ireland, 
and especially in the county of Limerick and county of 
Clare, under the supervision of unfeeling landlords. 
It was stated in a copy of the Limerick ami Clare Ex¬ 
aminer, received by a former arrival, that one thousand • 
houses had been demolished, and the poor inmates 
thrown upon the world to survive or perish, as chance 
might direct, in the union of Kilrush, within the space 
of a few weeks. A later number of the same paper 
says that three hundred have since been added to the 
melancholy list. The very week before the America 
sailed, twenty-three families in Kilrush, comprising 
more than one hundred human beings, many of them 
helpless infants and aged persons, were expelled from 
their homes, which were levelled to the earth by a 
‘ wrecking party/ under the direction of the landlord 
and sub-sheriff. c In the name of a God of mercy !’ 
says the Dispatch, 1 will no one put a stop to these 
deeds V The same paper has the following:—‘ Over 
one hundred human beings have been cast out on the 
world’s bleak common, from the estate of Sir William 
Fitzgerald, at Liscannor. The houses are tumbled, 
and the unfortunate people are squatted by the road¬ 
side in huts. They were under-tenants to a middle¬ 
man named Shenhan, who was ejected for non-pay¬ 
ment of rent,’ ” 

English legislators and Irish absentee landlords! 

o o 

What a generation of vipers, eh r l Good God ! to thee 
alone lie glory : we humbly beg thy aid in the hour of 
our affliction. H. 




ERRATA. 

Page 3, 10th line, for “where famine/’read “when 
famine.” 

Page 4, 4th line, add “ was” after “ carnage.” 

“ “ 10th line from bottom, for “ the,” read for 

“ their.” 

* Page 5, 3d line, for “ belly,” read “ bellies.” 

“ 6, 1st line, for Clomftorf under the,” read 

“ Clontarf under their.” 

Page 6, 2d line, for “ Brough,” read “ Borohme.” 

“ “ 21st line, for “ took that,” read “ took the.” 

“ “ 22d line, for “ made that,” read “ made the.” 
“ 8, 8th line, for “ impotency,” read “ arbitrary.” 



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